When Community Montessori Elementary's fourth- and fifth-grade class was deciding where to donate the money from their annual Valentine's Day fundraiser, the answer was just across the hall.

Six Jamestown Elementary students, plus Jamestown teacher Ines Rutkovskis, are at Community Montessori as a temporary solution because their town was so heavily damaged in the September floods. Another 15 Jamestown students are in a temporary classroom at Glacier View Ranch in Ward.

The Montessori and Jamestown students worked together on the fundraiser and, on Monday, gave a check for $823.50 to Jamestown Mayor Tara Schoedinger.

Schoedinger said knowing Jamestown students helped with the fundraiser made it "really special."

"I wouldn't miss the opportunity to come down here," she said. "Many of these kids are my neighbors and friends."

Community Montessori teacher Jeanne Matlin, who lives near Jamestown and was displaced herself during the flood, organized the fundraiser.

"We want the children to feel connected to their community and to think outside themselves," she said. "We want them to take action."

The students wrapped Hershey Kisses to look like roses, spending 15 minutes during the school day and time afterschool on the project. The chocolate roses sold for $1 a stem.

"It was cool," said Jamestown fourth-grader Ella Bartsch. "It will help our community."

Added Community Montessori fifth-grader Kayra Ergin, "They went through a lot of trauma and they need to rebuild a lot of stuff. It's a good cause."

After accepting the check, Schoedinger stayed to help the Jamestown students with a video project on the flood, sharing maps that showed the flooding and talking about plans to restore the town.

Schoedinger told the students that the hardest lessons from the flood include "seeing what it does to people emotionally" and not having many of her friends and neighbors in the community with her. On the positive side, she said, the town's aging drinking water system will be completely replaced.

She also talked about how the town focused on preparing for wildfires, but not major floods.

"None of us thought there would be a flood of this magnitude in our community," Schoedinger said.

Though Jamestown Elementary school itself wasn't damaged, it's expected to take months to fully restore access and municipal services.

Schoedinger said the goal is to have water restored and most of the permanent road repairs completed by August. If not finished by them, she said, she's concerned residents will enroll their children in other schools, sign new leases and not return at all.

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